JAMES DOUGLAS
James Douglas Directive to Achieve Land Ownership:
The directive to James Douglas from Archibald Barclay through a written letter, the Company Secretary, in December 1849, which outlines the general principles upon which these treaties on Vancouver Island were to be based is transcribed below:
"With respect to the rights of the native you will have to confer with the Chiefs of the tribes on that subject, and in your negotiations with them you are to consider the natives as the rightful possessors of such lands only as they occupied by cultivation or had houses built on, at the time when the Island came under the undivided sovereignty of Great Britain in 1846. All other land is to be regarded as waste, and applicable to the purposes of colonization. Where any annual tribute has been paid by the natives to the chiefs, a fair compensation for such payment is to be allowed."
In the spring of 1850, Douglas began his instructions to achieve treaties with the Indians around Fort Victoria. On May 16, 1850 Douglas made this report to Barclay:
"I summoned to a conference, the chiefs and influential men of the Songees Tribe, from Gordon Head on Arro (Haro) Strait to Point Albert on the Strait of De Fuca as their own particular heritage, After considerable discussion it was arranged that the whole of the District of Victoria, should be sold to the Company, with the exception of the Village sites and enclosed fields, for a certain remuneration, to the paid at once to each member of the tribe. I was in favour of a series of payments to be made annually but the proposal was so generally disliked that I yielded to their wishes and paid the sum at once.
The members of the tribe of being mustered were found to number 122 men or heads of families, to each of whom was given a quantity of goods in value to 17s Sterling and the total sum disburse on this purchase was 103.14.0 Sterling at Dept. price….I informed the natives that they would not be disturbed in possession of their Village sites and enclosed fields, which are of small extent, and that they were at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and carry on their fisheries with the same freedom as when they were the sole occupants of the country.
I attached the signatures of the native Chiefs and others who subscribed the deed of purchase to a blank on which will be copied the contract or Deed of conveyance, as soon as we receive a proper form, which I beg may be sent out by return of Post"
Many of the tribes that signed these Douglas Treaties, thought what they were signing was an acknowledgement of their ownership to their villages and their ability to continue to hunt over unoccupied lands and to fish as formally. The Lekwungen people believed they were not being asked to give up their ownership of the land - They felt no threat in signing this document because it clearly promised ownership of their villages, enclosed fields hunting and fishing as formerly; if they had believed what they were signing was extinguishment to their lands they would never have agreed to such a treaty.
This was the case was in Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo), to which Snaw-naw-as (Nanoose) is a descendant of the Sarlequun Tribe Douglas Treaty of 1854. James Douglas reported in 1853, that the Nanaimo were resistant in their dealings with the Hudson Bay Company. In his correspondence to London he wrote:
"I observe the request of the Governor and Committee that I should take an early opportunity to extinguish the Indian claim in the coal district and I shall attend to their instruction as soon as I think it safe, and prudent to renew the question of Indian rights, which always gives rise to troublesome excitements, and has on every occasion been productive of serious disturbances."
This affirms that the tribes of the Fort Victoria Douglas Treaties would have been just as vigilant in signing an extinguishment treaty, and were of the understanding that the document they were signing was of the recognition of their Aboriginal Rights and Title to the land and its resources and further they believed this to be a Peace and Friendship treaty.
TEXT OF SENG WHUNG DOUGLAS TREATY:
The text of the 14 Douglas treaties are similar in nature; with the exception of description of the land, date, and how much was paid. The following is the Sweng whung Douglas Treaty made at Fort Victoria. Sweng whung is one of the tribes that signed at Fort Victoria in 1850 known today as Songhees.
Sweng whung Tribe - Victoria Peninsula
South of Colquitz
Know all Men, We the Chiefs and People of the Family of "Sweng whung", who have signed our names and made our marks, to this Deed on the Thirtieth day of April one thousand, eight hundred and Fifty do consent to surrender entirely and for ever to James Douglas, the Agent of the Hudson's Bay Company in Vancouver Island, that is to say, for he Governor, Deputy Governor, and Committee of the same, the whole of the lands situate and lying between the Island of the Dead in the Arm or Inlet of Camoson, where the Kosampsom lands terminate extending east to the Fountain ridge, and following it to its termination on the Straits of De Fuca, in the Bay immediately east of Clover Point, including all the country between that line and the Inlet of Camoson. The Condition of, or understanding of this Sale is this, that our Village Sites and Enclosed Fields are to be kept for our own use, for the use of our Children, and for those who may follow after us; and the land shall be properly surveyed hereafter; it is understood, however, that the land itself, with these small exceptions becomes the Entire property of the White people for ever; it is also understood that we are at liberty to hunt over the unoccupied lands, and to carry on our fisheries as formerly.
We have received payment Seventy five pounds Sterling. In token whereof we have signed our names and made our marks at Fort Victoria on the Thirtieth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
(signed) by Snaw nuck with his X mark and 29 others.
Done before us at Fort Victoria this 30th day of April 1850
Alfred Robson Benson
M.R.C.S.L.
Joseph William McKay
WHAT ARE THE DOUGLAS TREATIES?
Most of the Aboriginal peoples of British Columbia never signed treaties with the British when they began to settle the West Coast. This is a big contrast to Eastern and Central Canada, where many treaties were signed with Aboriginal groups in the 1700s and 1800s. In B.C., the only historical treaties are Treaty 8, which covers part of Northern B.C. and the Douglas Treaties, which your Nations hold.
There are 14 Douglas Treaties. Together, they cover a small portion of Vancouver Island.
Twelve were signed on southern/mid Vancouver Island, and two were signed on Northern Vancouver Island. Some of your Nations hold rights under more than one Douglas Treaty:
Songhees Nation:
Teechamitsa, Kosampsom, Swengwhung, Chilcowitch, Whyomilth and Chekonein Treaties (April 29-30, 1850)
Beecher Bay Nation:
Kakyaakan and Chewhaytsum Treaties
(May 1, 1850)
T’Sou-ke Nation:
Sooke Treaty
(May 10, 1850)
Malahat Nation:
North Saanich Treaty
(February 11, 1852)
Nanoose Nation:
Saalequun Treaty
(December 23, 1854)
Sir James Douglas negotiated the Douglas Treaties between 1850 and 1854. His goal was to secure land from Nations and ensure that it was available for settlement of the Colony of Vancouver Island. However, this is not how the Aboriginal Nations understood the Douglas Treaties: your ancestors believed they were entering into peace and friendship treaties, whereby they were agreeing to share the land with the settlers, not give it up.
Images courtesy BC Archives Collection